


Further Down and Further In

by Elizabeth Culmer (edenfalling)



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Bism, Dwarf Culture & Customs, Gen, Prompt Fic, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-03-06
Packaged: 2018-03-16 13:50:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3490700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edenfalling/pseuds/Elizabeth%20Culmer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the secret the dwarfs keep to themselves: the earth itself is alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Further Down and Further In

**Author's Note:**

> Written 2/21/15 for [isabelquinn](http://isabelquinn.dreamwidth.org), in response to the prompt: _[Narnia, any, Bism](http://rthstewart.dreamwidth.org/119267.html?thread=4350435#cmt4350435)_.

This is the secret the dwarfs keep to themselves: the earth is alive. Not just the forests and waters and fertile loam of the surface, which anyone can see, but the deep stone itself breathes and grows; the earth has a heartbeat and veins of molten fire that run like blood. In the first days of the world, while Aslan's song still echoed in the rock, a handful of dwarfs dug too deep, following a chain of rubies that glowed ever brighter the deeper they delved, until their mine cracked and gaped like an open wound and they peered into the fiery depths to see strangers peering upward in return. Those who leapt downward never returned.

These days their many-times-great nieces and nephews harvest the fruits of that deep, living realm the way other Narnians harvest meat and grain, and if now and again a dwarf hears the rushing song of living gold, or sees the shine of jewels that swell and drip with juice, nobody follows when they venture ever-downward into the heart of stone.


End file.
